Does the big game translate to big bucks?
As it turns out, when the Grammys’ Album of the Year winner Bad Bunny takes the stage to perform the halftime show at the 2026 Super Bowl between the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks, he’ll pocket a total of zero dollars for his performance.
“We do not pay the artists,” an NFL spokesperson told Forbes in 2016. “We cover expenses and production costs.”
Indeed, despite featuring mononymous global superstars like Beyoncé, Usher and Rihanna in recent years, the NFL has maintained its longstanding tradition of not paying their halftime talent a traditional appearance fee.
Instead, the artists trade the paycheck for exposure, with the 2025 Super Bowl—which featured Kendrick Lamar as the halftime performer—drawing in over 127 million viewers.
“The halftime show at the Super Bowl remains a highly coveted spot for many artists,” entertainment attorney Lori Landew told Forbes in 2019. “Some of those artists do not see their appearance as a political statement, nor do they see the show as a cultural battleground, but rather view their live performance as an opportunity to entertain an enthusiastic crowd and to share their music and their talent with millions of viewers.”
